


Summer Vacation

by Rakath



Category: Descendants (2015), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakath/pseuds/Rakath
Summary: Where Each of the VKs spends their summer while away from school.Contains Descendants 2 Spoilers.





	1. Introduction

Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie sat in the shade, in a field just past the courtyard with the Beast’s Statue. Each working on one project or another. Jay going over R.O.A.R. statistics, Carlos fiddling with… something mechanical, Evie designing a gown, and Mal carving her heart mark into the base of the tree. Typical evening activities for the four, together and mostly out of trouble.

“Hey guys,” Lonnie called as she and Doug approached the four.

“Hey Lonnie, Doug…” Evie answered as the other three were too preoccupied to look up. Evie noticed Doug was standing in his most attentive and purposeful way. He also didn’t come over to inspect her work. That was not the way of things. “What’s up?”

“We- I, I have your summer assignments.” He answered, a little awkwardly.

“Assignments?” Jay asked without actually looking up, “I thought in Auradon there wasn’t any school for the summer.”

“There isn’t, but that means the school is closed and everyone returns home. Meaning there’s not really much point in you staying here. Also King Ben, when he was still prince, was required to plan for what happened if you didn’t…”

“Take over Auradon and destroy everything, or fail to and need to be sent back to the Isle?” Mal asked, knowing she was right. But it cut the awkward out from under Doug so he could get to it.

“That.” Doug rifled through his papers, “After you first arrived Fairy Godmother and a few of the other council members decided on homes for each of you. Based on who volunteered and… well, who could keep you out of trouble.”

“So are we staying together,” Carlos asked. Not sure he liked any of this.

Doug didn’t answer.

“Am I staying with Ben?” Mal asked with a little more green in her eyes than anyone liked seeing.

Doug didn’t answer again.

“Ben has visits lined up for The City of Bells, Neverland, and Sherwood this summer.”

Mal grimaced. After cotillion there was some, vocal concern about a Dragon roaming free in Auradon. Even a dragon dating the King. Ben, with his father’s help, quelled most of the fallout but a few kingdoms were still decidedly against Mal being invited to visit during their tour of the kingdom. And even the kingdoms that welcomed her, the subjects of Cinderella wanted nothing to do with her. Not to mention Mal could melt ice cream if she looked at it too hard, meaning Queen Elsa had concerns. “So I’m staying with someone else, what have you got for us?”

“Jay’s staying with me!” Lonnie beamed and sat herself between Jay and Carlos. “It’ll do us a lot of good on our training, able to practice all summer.”

“That and I’ve seen pictures from home, you guys wear quite the outfits.”

Lonnie elbowed him.

“And Sneezy and my cousin never spend the summer at home. Hay fever. So Carlos is with me,” Doug finally managed. He could see Evie droop at the idea, “But don’t worry, you’ll be nearby. You have family that wanted you to visit for the summer. We can see each other as often as you like!”

Evie took a few moments to figure out what he meant. Family. She only had her mom, she didn’t have any family. Unless, “You don’t mean-”

“Queen White started asking about you after the coronation but she’s had a lot going on with her hosting duties. She’s taking the summer off to reconnect.”

“What about me?” Mal asked, she knew where the Great Wall was, and where the Woodlands were. Neither were near each other. If she were in Agrabah she’d at least have access to Jay and Lonnie. Maybe Mount Olympus. Herky was a little sweet on her.

“Well…”


	2. Mal in Corona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal's Summer and taste of family life.

The Royal Limo took Mal and Ruby to her home kingdom of Corona. The sunsoaked kingdom was too hot for Mal’s jacket so she opted for black and purple jeans and a tank top. All her jewelry was still on as the limo rolled them into the edge of town. “Sorry, Lady Mal, but you and Princess Ruby will have to walk from here. Some of the Royal Guards will see to your bags.”

The Limo was too long to navigate the winding hill that made up the capital of the Kingdom. Ruby had braided her blonde hair into an intricate array to keep it off her neck and off the street. She sighed, “We really should have taken the helicopter. I hate this bit of the trip home.”

Mal smirked, “Wanna go the fun way?”

It took Ruby a few moments to figure out what Mal meant, and she almost regretted agreeing as they made the trip to the castle proper. She was screaming her lungs out as she gripped Mal’s forearm. The large purple dragon flying it’s way to the castle and landing at the gates where a collection of Guards were stationed. They quickly drew weapons as Mal landed, Ruby sliding off the dragon’s claw to the ground.

A woman in a simple pink dress ran up ahead of the guards to greet the pair. She was late thirties, but the way she moved and how she carried herself seemed much younger than that. She had smile lines as the only real show of her age. She gathered Ruby into a big full bodied hug that no noble would ever do in public, spinning the girl around, before turning to Mal.

“You must be Lady Mal. We heard about that trick of yours. You’re lovely!” And proceeded to hug Mal’s arm. “I’m Queen Rapunzel.”

“Rapunzel,” A man a few years older than the queen, and showing his age a bit more than she did, called after her, “Maybe you should let Mal turn back into a lady before you hug her!”

“Right! Yes, by all means, sorry about that.” Rapunzel pulled back and waited, smiling and full of an energy Mal had never seen in any of the nobles in Auradon City. Quickly letting her power swell and spin around her so she returned to the simple Isle girl she was. Fortunately while she wasn’t allowed to use magic, Evie found a way to make her clothes a little more fire (and magical transformation) resistant. Although that didn’t mean much, if they were Mal’s clothes they tended to stay in color scheme to who she was.

“I’m taking a nap, and probably a long bath, never let me do something so exciting again,” Ruby said as she headed to the castle gates.

“We’ll see you at dinner sweetie!” The man called.

Mal dusted herself off and made sure nothing was on fire… just in time to be drawn into another hug from the queen. Even Belle, who was affectionate by court standards, wasn’t this affectionate. “Hi…”

“I’m Eugene, as you can tell my wife is very glad you’re not properly from court. She never gets away with this most days.” The man answered as he patted his wife on the shoulder, “Let her go dear.”

“Right, let’s go inside and let you pick out your room! I’m so happy to have you here after what I’ve heard from Ruby?”

Mal eyed the pair of royals, they were… not like Beast and Belle at all. Even if the others at the coronation were nicer initially. Mulan kept sending Mal cookies along with the batches for Lonnie after first term. Nothing compared to how weird this all was. “Heard about me?”

“When you first came to Auradon most of the kingdom was a buzz with the scandal. Personally, I thought it was great. We needed a bit more scandal, something to get all those stuffshirts a bit less stuffy.” Eugene answered, leading Mal into the castle. “You’ll probably want something in the west tower. Punzel hasn’t gotten to it yet.”

Mal’s eyes darted around at the accompany of guards. Four guards were flanking them, none looking too happy. Plus there was another person watching from… somewhere. As much as the King and Queen were weird, Mal was more than used to the castle guards being on high alert with her around. And that only got worse since cotillion. “Hasn’t gotten to it?”

“Stop casing the guards and look at the walls, girl.” Eugene added, even if he was a bit older and more worn down than his wife, he still had an energy to him. Mal figured out what he meant quickly. The walls were lined with hand painted doodles, scribbles, designs, flowers, animals, and all sorts of in between. As well as the ceiling. The carpets seemed safe but some paintings went under them. Rapunzel was giggling as Mal’s eyes wandered the hall, spinning around to take it all in.

“Ruby told me about how you painted all over parts of the school. She doesn’t paint and I kinda wanted to see what I could do with a partner in crime.” Mal’s stare turned from the walls to the Queen. Not… really certain she heard that right. Rapunzel was so… warm, that smile was just… her, the simple dress was something clearly hand made, and from the way she moved she probably made it. “Cass, stop lurking around and say hi to our guest!”

“Rapunzel, I can’t protect you from threats if you announce I’m hiding.” A woman around Rapunzel’s age, a hair older maybe? Or that might just be from the scowl. In any event she appeared out of the shadows like a ghost.

“Oh please, Cass you’re not very good at hiding, Mal was already nervous when we got into this hall. She knew someone was there.”

“But she didn’t know where I was! You idiot.”

“Don’t call me an idiot, just because you don’t know how to make friends and have fun!”

Mal couldn’t help but start laughing at how that worked. Sure, they were adults, but… they didn’t seem to remember that when they were together. Mal felt a weight fall off her shoulder as she realized that a fear she held was entirely without basis. She was worried, for so long, that she and everyone would change and drift apart. More accurately, they’d change and she wouldn’t. But… maybe some things didn’t have to change.

“You really should work on being less menacing with that laugh, it might scare people.” Rapunzel teased and hip bumped Mal, “Come on, if we hurry they’ll start bickering again and lose track of us.”

Mal was worried this would be weird. Now she was glad it was so far away from normal, she nodded with a wicked gleam in her eye, running off with the local monarch.

***

Ben had always wondered about the walls in Castle Corona. He last visited when he was about twelve and was too proper to ask at the time. But it felt so different from the book lined halls of the Beast’s Castle. Walls covered in light and color, so alive and so… unique. He wondered if the servants were tasked with such a thing, or if it was just an aged magic of the castle itself.

The guards informed him that Mal had a room in the West Tower. And Lord Eugene informed him he’d know when he was on the right trail. Of course Ruby barely waved him a hello as she lazed about, surrounded by her own hair. But that wasn’t his focus as he moved, wondering what Lord Eugene meant.

Until all at once it made sense, the colors on the walls and ceiling went from pastels in pink and lavender, to the sharp bright greens and deep purples that were the favorite colors of his love. The flowers and woodland creatures turned to monsters and thorns. Not… menacingly, but it was definitely a lot more noticeable coloring and work as he headed up the stairs toward the upper level of the tower. The further he climbed the louder the sounds were.

Laughter.

Everyone in every kingdom knew the sound of Queen Rapunzel’s laugh. She had a spirit so bright it shined like the sun, and she could barely act her age without someone from her kingdom to remind her she can’t jump on tables and go without shoes. But the other laugh, that was one only a handful of people in the kingdom knew.

Ben doubled his steps as he came closer to the sound. The pair had sprawled out art supplies across a landing as they painted a field of thorns and flowers. Rapunzel was painting the thorns while Mal tried her hand at cute posies. Mal never worked with other artists at home, and it was such a… strange sight. Mal’s jeans and tank top were spattered with paint, as was Queen Rapunzel’s lavender sundress. Something no noble would ever wear outside the castle.

Rapunzel noticed him first and nudged Mal.

“Ben!” Mal hopped up and nearly tackled him with a hug. But she held her weight and kept them both from going down the stairs. It had been a long month in Neverland, which has the worst cell reception in the Kingdom, so they hadn’t really talked. “Is the summer over already?”

“I’m so happy to see you Ben, it’s been so long. How have you been?” Ben offered.

“Right, sorry, just… I’ve been having.”

“Fun. She’s looking for the word fun.” Rapunzel added as she hugged the pair of them, “I’ll leave you two at it. We can finish this stairwell later.”

“So… Queen Rapunzel, she was a good call for where you should go for the summer? At least if I’m busy?” Ben lead them both to sit on the stairs. “I still can’t believe all the halls in this castle were her.”

“She started after she got saved from Mother Gothel. In secret until she found out her father and mother loved it. And then she just kept going… for twenty years.” Mal was staring at the walls. Some of the work in this stairwell was her’s now. It felt like… 

“It reminds me of your hideout on the Isle.”

Mal’s smile faded a little, “Yeah. She told me if I ever needed a kingdom to call home, I could do it here. Since… well, she said we’re not that different. We were both raised by villains. And we both love art, and hate all the rules of the court.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice how much the court life was getting to you.”

Mal leaned against Ben, “It wasn’t your fault, I’m very good at hiding things. I… do think I should spend some of the year out here though. Just… to recharge. The guards even stopped being scared of me. Finally.”

“Next time don’t arrive as a dragon carrying the princess.”

“I make no promises.” Mal smirked as she thought about it. The idea of just growing her wings and flying out to the Isle of Corona seemed like such an appealing escape from reporters. She couldn’t lie to Ben and say she’d never do that.

“So… the painting in the entry hall to this tower? Not your work.” Ben knew where this was going.

“Rapunzel did it my first night here. She said she was inspired by my entrance.” Mal clung to Ben’s arm as they headed down toward the castle proper. To meet with the staff for a mid afternoon meal. “I dunno, she’s not mom. But I think she really likes having me around.”

Ben could honestly say he was happy to have a girlfriend that never stopped surprising him. This wasn’t ‘turn into a dragon’ surprise, but it was nice. He’d never seen her so… at ease. She had a routine in Auradon City, sure, but there was so much to her life there she couldn’t control. The press, the agendas, all the things that came with being his lady were so… much for her. Here, now, she seemed like, well, she seemed at home. And sure, Queen Rapunzel and Lord Eugene were both at home in their roles now. But from what his mother told him, the pair were very good at getting in trouble before the kingdoms were united.

It was why Eugene didn’t take the title King, he didn’t want to overshadow how far Queen Rapunzel had come. Or so the story goes. But none of that mattered, right now, Ben was too happy with how happy Mal was to care about history, or propriety, or any of that. “Let’s go, we can stay a day or two before meeting with the others. We’ve been offered a few villas at the Base of Olympus before school restarts.”

“Sounds fun.” Mal said, smiling in a way Ben had been dreaming of fo so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say, I figured this was a fun idea and started with Mal. I'll try to update for everyone else over the next few days.
> 
> Quick note, Ruby and Rapunzel do have a relationship... just not about art, they love clothes and baking together. Cassandra is now a part of this universe because SHE'S AMAZING and makes Tangled the Series better. Eventually she gets okay with living with a Dragon. It also took all my willpower to not make an Auradonian Dragon joke. Not even one.


	3. Jay in Northern Wei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay, Lonnie, and Mulan.

Jay sat on the top of the great wall, staring out at Agrabah in the morning light. Trying to sleep in the morning was a difficult task this summer, the sun rose very early, and with it two powerful women who trained with live steel  _ every morning _ . Lonnie and her mom were up early for chores around the Fa holding, then training for R.O.A.R. Which they had been doing together since Lonnie was about seven.

Not with live swords, with wooden sticks, but still. Jay couldn’t really picture any of this with his own childhood, and he liked his sleep. And if he was awake, and in no mood to swordfight, he’d go climb the nearest tallest scariest bit of landscape. If only it didn’t leave him with a view of the outskirts of Agrabah. And the sight of the Sultan’s Seat in the distance.

“ _ You would have been a prince, with all the riches of Agrabah in your hands. A menagerie of animals. Scores of guards and the respect of the masses. _ ”

“Thinking about your dad?”

Jay did not fall off the wall when Lonnie spoke, pulling him out of his memories. But it was a close call. “No…”

“For a villain that lie sucked. You’re staring at the palace, Jafar lived there.”

Jay turned around, putting the sandy kingdom out of his vision, he didn’t say anything. Lonnie was right but he wasn’t Carlos, or the girls, he didn’t need to talk about it.

“How did you get up here anyway? The guards would never let you up here without someone to keep an eye on you.”

“There are five good handholds, and two sorta dodgy ones, on the wall over there.” Jay pointed to the path he carved to get up the side of the wall. It was so uniform in most places, but that spot he or Mal could definitely climb. Although Mal could just… fly… now. That was still weird.

“Come on, Mom baked cookies.” Lonnie stretched a moment and grabbed Jay’s hand, pulling him toward the nearest actual ladder. Lame. Although at home Lonnie was dressed in less conventional clothes so she probably couldn’t handle the wall like he could. Plus she had that sword of her’s on her hip. “Plus you’ve been avoiding this for over a week.”

Jay groaned.

***

Jay held one of the training swords and eyed Fa Mulan, hero of the area, the woman who broke Shan-Yu’s armies. A name that caused more than a few fistfights on the Isle with any of the children of Shan’s soldiers. The woman didn’t seem terribly impressive to him, like… he could tell she was more active than the princesses of Auradon, but she didn’t even pick up a sword and she was dressed in a skirt, and was overall just… a woman.

“Come on, don’t be shy.”

“Aren’t you going to pick up a sword first?” On the isle attacking an unarmed opponent was why everyone had something to use as a weapon on them at all times. Or some other offering to prevent your death.

“You’ve been here ten days and you haven’t trained once, if I desperately need a sword I’ll take yours.”

Jay glanced over to Lonnie, she gave him a thumbs up and that awkward smile that said he was in serious trouble. “If you say so…”

Jay bowed, Mulan did the same. He didn’t think, given the pounding Lonnie gave him once, that holding back would make him any friends. It wasn’t a lady thing, he just had a reputation for hurting people because Chad kept ticking him off. So he held back on anyone he didn’t actually want to hurt. Even with a full power swing, he missed.

“You’re telegraphing with how you pulled back there.”

Jay tried again, this time a series of thrusts. Mulan evaded and slipped past, pushing Jay forward. “Better, but you’re out of practice.”

Jay changed tactics, he started using minimal low power swings, watching the way she moved and evaded. Figuring out how she moved to figure out how to bypass her, um, experience. Something about Mulan’s smirk made him doubt this plan was any good, but… he didn’t have much else to go with. He had to have some way to salvage his reputation.

And she took his sword, pinned his arm to his back, and blade against his neck, “Lonnie I like him, you’ve made a wonderful friend.” Jay was attempting to wrench his arm free but Lonnie’s mom had a lot more grip than he was expecting and, well, total control.

“You say that after you disarmed me and pinned me.”

“Yes, but you’ve done much better than all of Lonnie’s other friends. They either don’t know how to fight like Aubrey and Jane, or they just get all huffy like Chad. Ben was okay, but he refused because ‘if I killed him it’d make Lonnie’s life hard.’” 

Ben was technically better than Jay, as far as Jay knew from fighting with him, but he lacked the drive to just really swing in. The others felt about right though, “Well, I learned from pirates, and, well, Shan-Yu once or twice. You’re scarier.”

“You’re a friend of my daughter’s, I have every reason to be scarier. Let’s go inside for tea and cookies now.”

Once the cookies were out of the oven and the tea was served the three sat outside to enjoy them. Mulan making the usual awkward parent conversation Jay had found anytime he meat an Auradonian family. It didn’t annoy him as much anymore, being asked about stuff. Now that he was sure it was just to know him, and not to find a weapon against him.

“Carlos and Doug promised to look into how we can change the rules, but that’s a lot more brainpower than I really have,” Jay said about Lonnie being captain. Not that Jay wanted the title back, just that it would be nice to find a good reason to cut Chad and a few of the boys who are less supportive of Lonnie than he and Carlos are.

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’re really good where it counts. Even if watching you try to write a paper is heartbreaking,” Lonnie grinned.

“I’m glad that stupid R.O.A.R. rule is being done away with. Maybe Tourney can be finally treated to the same thing,” Mulan was more than pleased at the ideas at play here. More than proud her daughter was Captain of the Auradon team.

“Mal offered her own fire to making Tourney ‘more interesting’ so… maybe we should stick with R.O.A.R.” Jay offered, not that he had an issue with Mal setting the pitch on fire. But he figured other teams might whine.

Lonnie was too busy laughing at the idea to really help.

“In any event, I’ll leave you two alone for a while. Don’t do anything that would need me to get a sword.” Mulan smiled about… something, Jay was clearly missing it, and walked off. He glanced over to Lonnie.

Who was blushing just a bit and not looking up, “Mom thinks we’re dating, no matter what I tell her.”

Jay laughed, “Well, you could handle all the trouble us VKs bring.”

“You’d have to stop flirting with all the girls at school. And I’d have to too.”

Jay looked at her a moment, he thought he heard her but Auradon kids have weird phrases and ideas of things, “Did you just say you’d have to stop flirting with all the girls?”

Lonnie scooted a little closer, “I tried telling Mom but she doesn’t really get it. I mean, she’s so cool and barrier breaking. But…”

“Is this like a thing in Auradon?” Jay was really trying to figure this out but it just… didn’t play. Not with his life, although thinking about it, there weren’t a lot of girls and girls, or boys and boys, in Auradon.

“You’re kidding, on the Isle being a lesbian is just okay?” Lonnie was staring at him.

“Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, nobody is really big on dating since it could get used against you later. But there’s an all witch school on the isle, a lot of them aren’t interested in boys…” Jay stretched, Auradon was weird. He liked being the good guy, being nice wasn’t the worst thing either, and having people he could really trust was amazing. But they had such bizarre priorities. “If you want my help telling your mom I can try. I mean, is there any girl you’re really into right now?”

“Ally and I have been kinda seeing each other, just a bit.”

“Cool, then it should be easy enough, what we do is…”

***

“Mom?”

“I definitely wouldn’t have gone looking for your grandparents, if they left me at home with a boy,” Mulan continued her calligraphy.

“Because, as I told you, Jay isn’t the person I’m seeing. He’s just a friend, who needed a place to stay.”

“And where is the person you are seeing, when will I meet him.”

“You can’t, mom-” Lonnie glanced to the window, Jay was giving her a thumbs up from his perch in the tree. “You remember Alice, from Parent’s night?”

“Blonde, curious, a little off. You’re seeing her son. Hatty?”

“No, Ally, Hatty’s little sister.”

Mulan stopped her writing to look up at her daughter, putting her brush down and walking around the table to give Lonnie a hug, “Does she swordfight?”

Jay watched a few moments more and made his way to town, off to give them time.

***

Jay felt a weight against him as he watched Agrabah from the wall again. “Thank you.”

“You’re as much my family as Carlos and the girls.”

“If you want to just stay here, maybe not in my house, for the summer. I think we could do it.”

Jay kept staring out into the distance, Lonnie leaned against him. It was very different from at school. She’s so… distant, trying to keep all the boys respectful. It was kinda nice to feel her let down her hair or whatever. Not that he could be all cuddly at school either, he was the scary Isle bully. “...Do you think I have any family in Agrabah?”

“I dunno, maybe we should go visit and see if we can find anything out?”

“It doesn’t matter too much,” Jay threw his arm around Lonnie and hugged her. He had her, and Mal and the others. He didn’t need more family, but if he had some… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.


End file.
